Falling for you
by Gracemarie
Summary: Brendan & Ashley


I walked aimlessly for two hours straight, thinking about how I would do it. Would I write a note to let everyone know I left? Should I tell one person, leave, then let the news get around until eventually my parents found out? But what would they care anyway, when my older brother Ben just got into Penn State. He's the angel child in their lives, and I'm just a little road bump who's just passing by in school. Well, after this weekend I won't be in their way anymore.

I walked off of the main road, and there sat my beautiful field. This field was my savior. I always came here when I felt confused, sad, angry, or happy. I came here whenever a strong emotion took over me. I waited until about 6:30; that's always when the sun went down. Then I would walk there and lay down in the tall grass with all the trees surrounding the outline. Then I would just sit there, close my eyes and day dream about how my life would be if everything went right. Then I would feel better again and go home.

But today was unlike any other; when I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes, I couldn't in vision the world only I knew. Instead a cloud of depression filled my stomach and throat, and in my head I could see myself walking down the road with a bag over my shoulders and a suitcase beside me. I was running away from everything I knew, and somehow I was okay with that. Suddenly, I heard a noise.

I opened my eyes to find a boy about 16 starring down at me. He had golden blond hair that fell to his shoulders and hazel eyes that sparkled like the stars. He had a warm blush flooding his face as he jumped back in shock as I starred back.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you…I thought you were sleeping." he smiled as he held out his hand to me. I sat up and grabbed onto it gently, pulling myself up.

"Thank you, and no, I wasn't sleeping. I come here to think sometimes." I had a shy smile smeared acrossed my face as I wiped all the grass off of me.

"And by all the time you mean everyday?" He asked. I looked up at him, puzzled.

"How did you know that?" I asked, trying to figure out how anyone would no that. Not even my parents notice that I'm out of the house everyday.

"I live acrossed the road…well, I live on the main road down a ways. But I always see you walk pass my house, and I decided today to see where you go." he mumbled with a small smile.

"Oh. Well, my names Ashley. Nice to meet you." I smiled brightly as I held out my hand to him.

"Hello Ashley, my names Troy." he smiled as he shook my hand. We let go and my hand dropped awkwardly to my leg.

"So, don't you come here with any friends?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Umm…I don't have many friends. Actually, I'm kind of like the outcast in school. Mostly everyone fits in, but I was new a few years ago and never caught up with anything." I explained slowly, trying to choose my words carefully. The truth was, I had been here my whole life, but never really connected with anyone from my school. No one seemed to notice me anyway, so I just tell people I was the new girl in West Ville.

"Well, I moved here a few years ago to. What grade are you in? I know I've seen you around school…" he trailed off as he waited for my answer.

"I'm in ninth…I'll be fifteen this October twenty fourth." I stated. He nodded his head.

"That's only a month and a half away. I just turned sixteen last week; August thirtieth. I'm in tenth. Maybe we'll have some classes together this year." he smiled as he turned pink again.

"Probably not." I sighed as I walked over to a small tree and sat down onto one of the branches. Brendan sat down next to me, making the leaves shake in rhythm with the wind.

"Are you moving or something?" he asked as he looked into my eyes. I didn't want to be distracted by them, so I moved my attention to his hair.

"Well, I know I havent known you long and you probably don't want to hear about my personal life…" I trailed off as I looked at the ground.

"No, I want to hear this. You're my friend, Ashley." he smiled as he put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and smiled; no one had ever said this to me before.

"Okay. Well, when I was growing up, my brother has always been smarter. But not because he was older or anything. He was just always smart, and I was barely holding B's. So, I was never in the spotlight with anything I did. I don't even think my parents would know my voice if I heard it, because I never talk to anyone. I get up to go to school, come home, do all the work I need to do and come here. Very rarely will me and my parents have a conversation." I sighed as I just began my sad little story.

"That sounds horrible." He sighed with me.

"It is. So, I've always been in Ben's shadow. But lately I've been getting very sick of it, and I've been thinking about running away. Once I thought about suicide, but I wouldn't want to take my life away from me when I could possibly make it better, you know? So I decided that this weekend, when they go and take Ben to college, I'll pack my bags and hit the road…maybe to Tennessee. I've always wanted to live there my whole life. It just seems like a very peaceful place to be." I smiled as I thought about it.

"Well, I can guarantee there will be a lot of fields like this there." he laughed. I had heard his laugh for the first time, and it gave me goose bumps. From then on, I knew I couldn't forget it…ever.

"There sure would be." I sighed as I leaned back on the tree.

"But I don't think you should go…I know it doesn't seem like it, but your parents do really care about you on the inside. Maybe they don't show it that much, but with so much going on with Ben, they don't really think about spending time with you and how that must effect your feelings. But think about how hurt they'll be when they come back and find you gone? They'll miss you, you'll miss them, and it will just be a wreck. And even if you do go this weekend, you know that eventually you'll come back." he tried to persuade me into staying.

"I know they do…but it just seems like the right thing to do. Maybe then they'll notice me." I tried to hold back tears, but one of them slipped out. I tried to look down, but Troy had already seen.

"Don't cry baby girl. If you stay this weekend, I promise I'll be your friend forever and always. We can meet at the gym after school then walk here til it gets dark out, then I can walk you home and we could call each other on the phone whenever we wanted." he held my chin up and wiped the stray tear, making me feel like I had butterflies in my stomach.

"Are you serious? You'd do all that for me? But why?" I asked as I wiped my eyes dry.

"I am serious, and yes I would do all that for you. I have been in your situation before. Actually, I am right now. I don't have that many friends either. All I have are Greg and Joey, and I don't really hang around with them much except for in wood shop. I think it'd be great to have a female friend." he smiled as he leaned his arm back on one of the branches.

"I think it would be wonderful to have a guy friend to. I mean, just to have a friend in general would be amazing, but with the boys you don't really have that much drama going on." I laughed. He laughed along.

"Well Ashley, it's getting dark…would you like me to walk you home?" he smiled as he held out his hand.

"That would be great, thank you Troy." I smiled back as I took his hand, interlocking each of my fingers in his.

"No problem." he blushed. We walked through the field onto the main road and down. He showed me where his house was, and it actually wasn't far from where I lived at all. In fact, our backyards were basically touching. He lived on one side of the road, and I lived on the road in back of his. His house was where my house was, and where our rooms were faced each other. The only good part of my house was that my room had a little balcony, and along with the balcony was a ladder, for fire emergencies. Brendan could use that to get up.

When we got onto my porch, the light was on in the living room, so I tried to keep him hidden.

"Thank you so much for walking me home Troy. Maybe tomorrow we could walk to school together or something." I smiled as I realized he was still holding my hand.

"Sure. Then we're still on for tomorrow after school?" he smiled.

"Yes, absolutely." I said, a little to quickly.

"Good. Then it's a date." he said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek lightly. He smiled and bowed, then walked off my porch. I watched him round the corner and kept my eyes locked with his until he disappeared.

"It's a date." I smiled as I closed my eyes and leaned on the side of my house. I took a deep breathe and walked inside. My mom was sitting in the dining room cutting coupons and my dad was in the living room with Ben watching Penn State football.

"Son, this is your ticket. You'll be the best addition they ever get." my dad smiled at my brother. Ben just rolled his eyes and turned around to look at me.

"Hey Ashley." he smiled with a friendly wave. I waved back and then darted to my room.

I dove onto my pale yellow comforter and grabbed the nearest white pillow I could feel. I looked all around my yellow and white striped room and thought about how great it would be when I show it to Brendan. But my thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ash, it's me." Ben voice rang through my ears. I slowly walked over, unlocked the door and walked back over to sit at my bed. He walked in, shut the door quietly and locked it again. Then he walked over to my bed and plopped down next to me. It was silent for about five minutes until he decided to speak.

"So…what's been up?" he asked.

"Not much." I mumbled back.

"What grade are you going into this year, sixth?" he asked.

"Ninth." I replied.

"Wow, I missed a lot didn't I." he said to himself.

"Yeah Ben, more than needed." I huffed as I stood up and walked out onto my balcony. But of course, he followed me, shutting the doors behind him.

"Look Ash, I'm sorry I wasn't ever there for you," he began. "But it's been super hard trying to maintain my four point grade average and staying the quarter back so I could get into Penn State. I always wanted to be more involved in your life, but I just couldn't. I wish you'd understand that." he sighed as he came over and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tighter with every word.

"Ben it's not you who I wish was always there for me. I know that if I have a problem, you'd be the only one to listen. It's really about mom and dad…I was thinking about running away this weekend, just to make them realize." I explained as I pushed him back.

"Don't be stupid, Ashley. Stay here with mom and dad. This will be good for you, me going away to college. That means I wont be here and they'll have more time for you! Please Ash, just don't run away." he sighed as he sat down onto my swinging chair.

"I said I was thinking about it. I'm not anymore…because I met this guy." I smiled as I sat down gently next to him.

"Tell me about him." Ben smiled.

"Okay. Well, he noticed that I always go to the field everyday, so he followed me there today. He has golden blond hair and the most beautiful hazel eyes I have ever seen. So, we talked for a while, and he called me his friend. I have a friend now Ben! And then, I told him the whole thing about running away and the situation with mom and dad, and he listened the whole time. Then he promised me he would be my friend forever and always…it was so amazing." I sighed as I laid back and thought about the day.

"Is that the same boy who kissed you on the porch?" he asked with a smirk.

"How did you see that?" I blushed.

"I guess you were trying to avoid mom and dad, but I could see you both perfectly out the window. But don't worry; they didn't see anything. Is he your boyfriend?" he smiled.

"I don't really know…he said we could walk to school together tomorrow, then after school we could walk to the fields…he said it was a date…." I smiled again as the kiss played over and over again in my mind.

"Well Ash, it looks like you've got yourself a boyfriend." he hugged me. And for the first time ever, I hugged him back.

This is a better one in my opinion…tell me what you think. Thanks guys!


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